You Are Not Your CGPA (Some Advice to Undergrads and Fresh Grads)...

For five years, I have worked with friends to provide pre-employment training in OAU through Beyond Ife. We have gotten amazing results, ranging from my job to the graduates who tell us how Beyond Ife helped chart their course after school. As the sixth season approaches, I wish we could reach more people – so I have decided to share some thoughts publicly.

Here goes.

Care about your CGPA. It may sound unfair, but the world needs a system to classify graduates. Recruiters want to test candidates who are more likely to succeed, so they look to past performance to indicate potential. Business schools and competitive Masters Programs consider CGPA when deciding who to admit, preferring students who have demonstrated ability to manage rigorous academic demands. If you still can, improve your CGPA. Work hard at the courses you dislike. Get the best grades possible. It pays off eventually.

Don’t care about your CGPA. If your graduating CGPA is deemed undesirable by the world of work, disregard it. Your CGPA does not define you. A poor CGPA forces you to creatively consider options outside mainstream employment. You could become specialized at something, seek further education or certifications, or start a small business. Possibilities abound! For example, some of the best and highest earning developers I know graduated at or near the bottom of their class. Think! Create something!

Little Drummer Boy

I am a Christmas junkie. I love, love, love the holiday season. I have loved Christmas for as long as I can remember – even when we did not have new clothes or Christmas chicken. My eyes tear up at the opening bars of White Christmas. Few songs get me moving like Feliz Navidad. But my all-time favourite – is - *drum roll* Little Drummer Boy!

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum;
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum;
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum;
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum;
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum;
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum;
On my drum?

The remixed version of Little Drummer Boy as performed by the Daystar Choir in 2013 took my love for the song to entirely new levels. Admittedly, it does not inspire me like Immortality, This is Our God, or Savior King – but it reminds me of a warm childhood shared with amazing siblings and devoted parents.

One would expect me to play it more often, given the plethora of warm feelings it engenders, but no – until recently, I only played Little Drummer Boy in December. In my previous definition of normal, Little Drummer Boy was a Christmas song, reserved only for the holiday season. I would sometimes play it infrequently, but never as part of a regular playlist during the year.

Until the accident.

I suddenly realized, screw waiting for December. How are you even sure you’ll be here then?

Little Drummer Boy is just a song, but how often do we act likewise with our deepest desires and dreams? We awaken in the mornings and work hard through the days, postponing the fulfillment of our desires until later. We let people tell us when it is fine to pursue our dreams. We believe the half-truth that we can start bigger, if only we wait a little longer.

These days, I often play Little Drummer Boy in my car – on the ride to and from work, church, and everywhere else. Everyone is surprised the first time they hear it, and a few people sometimes say – “But it is only March”! But inevitably, they join in – and we have a merry singalong.

Why wait until Christmas to be happy?

Life is short. Live.

PS: I couldn't find the Daystar version online, but I'll let you watch my copy of the DVD if you drop by someday *wink wink*

Any Person May Become Great...

I have been re-reading one of my favorite books, The Science of Being Great (1911) by Wallace D. Wattles, and thought I’d share a few thoughts. You’re welcome to engage with these thoughts and share them with others.

One of my favorite speeches was delivered by Booker T. Washington, an African-American educator, author, and adviser to United States Presidents. In the speech, Washington told about his struggle on the path to a life of influence. Born a slave, he worked at a coalmine and provided domestic help early on, then worked as a janitor to fund his education. Following this, Washington became prominent as a leader of the African-American community, and his thrust for black progress through education and entrepreneurship shaped the early years of the American Civil Rights movement.

I have long thought a strong sense of responsibility for one’s success or failure more important than hereditary advantages in the making of great people, and stories like the above serve to reinforce this worldview. History is replete with examples of people who overcame great odds to rise from humble backgrounds – such as Abraham Lincoln, who was almost entirely self-educated and yet became one of America’s greatest Presidents; Andrew Carnegie, who went from destitute immigrant to industrialist and second-richest man in the world; and Oprah Winfrey, who grew from immense poverty to continuing wealth and influence.

Wallace Wattles writes, “nothing was ever in any man that is not in you; no man ever had more spiritual or mental power than you can attain, or did greater things than you can accomplish. You can become what you want to be… You are not barred from attaining greatness by heredity. No matter who or what your ancestors may have been or how unlearned or lowly their station, the upward way is open for you… Poverty is no bar to greatness, for poverty can always be removed”.

You can become what you want to be.

May the road rise with you.

Randoms:: Car Accident, Balance, and Buhari...

I woke up this morning, and it literally hit me that 2015 is one month down. I am reminded that I have not written in over a month, and this not for want of trying. My computer is strewn with uncompleted posts – abandoned for a variety of reasons. I’d like to return to my writing ways though, so I’m going to force this one.

**1***

I walked away from this car crash, my second accident and the first in which I was driving, on December 24. One moment I was driving, happy, heading to Ibadan to celebrate Christmas with family and friends; the other I was confused, dazed, careening wildly across the road and thinking it was all over.

I was confronted with my own mortality on that cold Wednesday morning. And like I have told everyone who has cared to listen since then, life is short! Very short! I’m happy to still be here, and in retrospect it was a great opportunity to re-affirm the commitment I made on my last birthday to live.

Very importantly, I’m grateful for the incredible support system of colleagues, friends, and family that stood by me and helped me get back on my feet as quickly as possible. I’m also grateful for the strangers that stopped to help, stood by me till friends arrived, and called afterwards to check up on me. God bless you!

**2**

I heard one of the worst things that can happen to a human is to be alive, and not know where your next meal is coming from. The next worst thing would then be to be dead, and to not have spent any of your money.

Think about that for a second.

In Al-Ghazali's words, “what is wanted is a balance between extravagance and miserliness through moderation, with the goal of distance between both extremes”.

When you figure out a strategy for 'operationalizing' a balance between extravagance and miserliness, please come back and share.

**3**

I’d like to state in as few words as possible why I support Buhari to win at the upcoming Nigerian Presidential elections. (I first saw this allegory on Twitter, and unfortunately cannot find the source).

What do you do when you’d like to build a nice house in a jungle? You send in bulldozers, and then the builders come in afterwards and do their work.

Buhari is not a builder per se. He’s a huge, huge bulldozer – with a strong reputation for character and integrity. And thankfully – unlike the current President who has surrounded himself with charlatans and praise-singers, we can expect this bulldozer to roll in with quite a few builders in tow. I think his biggest appeal is that he’ll create an enabling environment for our many technocrats to flourish and create much needed change.

I was a vocal proponent of the Buhari-Bakare ticket in 2011, and I’m convinced the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket is an even stronger one.

Let’s reset Nigeria!

**4**

Happy New Month, and cheers to achieving all the lofty goals you set for this year!

*commences monologue*
Phew! You see Koye - that wasn't so hard... :) :) :)

20 Facts About Me...

It's been a while since I did serious writing, so I decided I'd ease back into writing by doing some "not-so-serious" writing :)

Here goes - 20 random facts about me (with one bonus fact thrown in at the end):

1. I've had just 3 Barbers cut my hair - all my life. One in Ife. One in Ibadan. And now - one in Lagos. I once went six months without a haircut because my Lagos Barber was unavailable.

2. I've had (and still have) just one girlfriend. Well, not counting two 'flings' in Secondary School that lasted eight hours in one case and two days in the other. And yep - not counting the babe that used me to pass WAEC either. UPDATE - March 2017: I married her!

3. I was writing a book on Pornography Addiction, then stopped when I realized I'd have to get addicted to understand firsthand what Porno addicts experience.

4. I love Celine Dion. Immortality is possibly my favorite song of all time. I'd pay through my nose for a chance to take her to dinner.

5. I draw energy from my "alone moments". Except it's one of a very limited number of people, I can't stand chatter-boxes when I'm in the "alone zone".